Living Our Dream

Two New Restaurants and a Trip to Fleamasters Flea Market

Wauchula, FL - Events of Wednesday, March 20 to Sunday, April 6, 2019

Although the season here at the Co-op doesn't officially end until April 30, people start leaving around the end of March, or a little sooner if Easter is early like it was last year, and activities start winding down. Of course, that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. Margery worked hard to meet the April 1 deadline for the season's last regularly scheduled issue of the newsletter, and then she started meeting with a group of year-round residents to schedule some fun activities for the summer.

Paul just finished heading up a big Landscape Committee project to rip out a 275-foot row of dead and dying hedges along the highway in front of the Co-op and to replace them with over 100 new plants. The work took almost three weeks and included replacing the old irrigation system.

Some of the work crew pulling out the old hedges with the tractor

Lots of hand raking

New hedges planted

Even when we are busy, we still have errands to run and appointments to keep. On a recent trip to Sebring for haircuts, we made time to stop at a new restaurant. Actually, the restaurant was new only to Paul because Margery had been there earlier in the spring with a group of ladies from the Co-op.

Cowpoke's Watering Hole is located south of Sebring on US 27. As the name suggests, the restaurant has a cowboy theme, but it also has an island twist. The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating, and the outdoor seating is in a large tiki hut-like structure. We decided to eat outside.

Cowpoke's Watering Hole

As you would expect, Cowpoke's has steaks and burgers; but they also have a variety of seafood. Sandwiches and burgers are $9 to $15, and most dinners are $9 to $30 with some larger, premium steaks costing up to $40. Sandwiches include fries or house-made chips, and dinners include a salad and your choice of vegetable or potato. We both opted for fried fish sandwiches. One of us ordered fries and the other ordered chips so we could share them and decide which we liked best.

Margery with her fried fish sandwich

The fish sandwich was huge, and it was excellent. The fish was moist and flaky, and the crust on the outside was extra crunchy. The chips won the taste test hands down. They were a nice golden brown and they were very crisp whereas the fries were a little mushy.

On the Sunday after our late lunch at Cowpoke's (April 7), we made a trek to Fort Myers after church to visit the Fleamasters Flea Market. Fleamasters is open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays year round. We used to like to go to the Market of Marion occasionally when we were staying farther north in Bushnell, Florida, so we thought we would give Fleamasters a try hoping it would have nice produce like the Market of Marion. Also, Paul needed new reading glasses and we both needed new computer glasses, so we were hoping we could find those, too.

Fleamasters Flea Market is immense, and it's all indoors. Most of the vendors have permanent shops set up, but there are several aisles that are open to the outside so part-time or one-time vendors can back their vehicles up and sell yard-sale style.

Because the market is so big and since it was our first visit, we were overwhelmed when we first arrived. Once we found a map, however, we discovered the aisles going east and west all had clearly-marked letter designations, and the aisles that ran north and south had different colored lines painted on the floor. The map also had a directory of shops listed by category, so it wasn't as hard to find our way around as we first thought.

View down the "orange" aisle of Fleamasters Flea Market

Unfortunately, Fleamasters only had a couple of vendors selling produce, and their selection and prices weren't all that great. However, we did find several vendors with glasses. Although the selections weren't as big as the vendor we used to buy glasses from at the Market of Marion, we still both found what we wanted.

It was mid afternoon by the time we left the flea market. We were both hungry, so we headed for a restaurant in downtown Fort Myers called Ford's Garage. In 1916, Henry Ford, who was a good friend of Thomas Edison, bought the estate adjacent to Edison's winter home in Fort Myers, so that's where the name for the restaurant comes from. Ford's Garage has 10 other locations in Florida and one in Dearborn, Michigan.

Fort Myers has a quaint, artsy downtown. Sidewalks have been widened to allow for outdoor seating at the many restaurants, the architecture of the old buildings has been nicely restored, and palm trees line the streets.

View of one of the quaint streets in downtown Fort Myers

There is some on-street parking, and it's free; but the downtown area was pretty crowded in the middle of a Sunday afternoon, so we had to park several blocks from the restaurant. The area where we parked was adjacent to a marina and had metered parking. Parking is free on weekends, but we unfortunately didn't find that out until after we had paid. Oh well, it was only 50 cents.

Ford's Garage

As you might expect, Ford's Garage has an automotive theme. The handles of the entry doors are made from gas pump nozzles; and once inside, you can't miss the old car suspended over the bar.

Old car suspended over the bar

The napkins are shop towels with hose-clamp napkin rings.

Shop towel napkin with hose clamp napkin ring

There are also photos of old cars, old automobile and oil company advertising, and old car parts decorating the walls. The bowls of the sinks in the rest rooms are mounted inside tires and have gas pump nozzles for faucets.

Rest room sinks with gas pump nozzles for faucets

Ford's Garage specializes in burgers, so that's what we both had. The burgers are 1/3-pound, choice Angus beef, although you can upgrade to USDA prime beef for an additional charge of $4 or switch to bison meat for an additional $5.00. The plain burger starts at around $9 and goes up from there as you add things like cheese, bacon, portobello mushroom, and other special toppings. There are also over a dozen specialty burgers that range in price from around $10 to $17. We both had the Estate Burger ($13.95), which had smoked Gouda cheese, sweet red onion marmalade, arugula, tomato, fried onion straws, and white truffle/bacon aioli. The Ford's Garage logo is branded onto the tops of the buns. The burgers were so tall we had trouble wrapping our mouths around them.

Estate Burger

Margery had onion rings ($1.99 additional) with her burger, and Paul had quarter fries. Everything was delish! The burgers were nice and juicy, and the sweet, red-onion marmalade provided a great counterbalance to the bitterness of the arugula.

Paul with his Estate Burger

Ford's Garage is a little expensive (our bill was around $40 with tax and tip); but the burgers were excellent, and it was a fun place to visit.

After our late lunch at Ford's Garage, we headed back home for an evening of TV. We had a couple of doctor and dentist appointments to squeeze in over the next couple of days, then we relaxed for a few days after that. Paul is looking forward to scheduling a couple of his own projects in the near future now that there are fewer Co-op activities. Stay tuned.

Lake Placid, Florida

Events of Friday, January 11, 2019

Barb and Kent, who are friends of ours who used to live near us in our old hometown of Pittsburgh, now live in the Chicago area. They called us last fall to say they were going to be staying on Sanabel Island in Florida for a week this January. We made arrangements for them to stop by our place last Friday.

After showing them around our new park model, we relaxed and chatted for a while to catch up on what has been going on with each of our families. We have gotten together with Barb and Kent in previous years when they have come to Florida, and we usually try to do a little sightseeing and then go out to eat. We had several ideas for things to do, and we eventually decided to drive to Lake Placid, which is about 10 minutes south of Sebring, to see some of the murals that are painted on various buildings around town.

One of the nicknames for Lake Placid is "Town of Murals" because they have over 40 murals depicting the history of Lake Placid. The other nickname is "Caladium Capital of the World" because 98% of the world's caladuim bulbs come from Lake Placid.

The murals are periodically commissioned by the Lake Placid Mural Society, which was founded in 1992 by Bob and Harriet Porter. Each mural is sponsored by various businesses, civic groups, families, and/or individuals. The Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce Visitor's Center in downtown Lake Placid has guide books for sale for $4 with photos, descriptions, and a map showing the locations of all the murals, so we stopped at the Visitor's Center first.

Before each mural is painted, the artist must submit first a black-and-white rendition of the mural. Once the initial drawing is approved, the artist then submits a full-color painting of the mural that is suitable for hanging. The Visitor's Center houses a gallery of the full-color paintings. The Visitor Center also shows a 10-minute video that gives information on how the murals are created.

After watching the video, we bought a guide book and headed outside to see the murals. The first one was right on the side of the Chamber of Commerce building. It is called "Town of Murals - How it All Began," and it depicts Bob and Harriet Porter founders of the Mural Society. It was sponsored by friends of the Porters and was completed in 2013. The founding of the Mural Society was inspired by murals the Porters saw in a little town in Canada while on a motorcycle trip.

Mural depicting Bob and Harriet Porter, founders of the Lake Placid Mural Society

We walked to several other murals that were located nearby. A fun thing about the murals is that all but one of them have either hidden items in them or items missing from them for viewers to find. One example was in a nearby mural called "Turpentine Industry." It was sponsored by the family of Walter Coachman, who was co-founder of a company that owned over 2 million acres of pine forests and that supplied pine gum for caulking wooden ships. Pine gum was also distilled into turpentine.

Mural depicting the "Turpentine Industry"

The mural was completed in 1994 and is 62 feet long. It includes 4 faces hidden in the foliage. The next two photos show Kent, Margery, and Barb looking for the hidden faces and a close-up of one of the faces.

Kent, Margery, and Barb looking for hidden faces in the mural

Close-up of one of the hidden faces

One of Paul's favorite murals was one called "Birding" because it is located next to a small park. The landscaping in the park blends right in with the mural and looks like a 3D extension of the mural.

Mural called "Birding" and adjacent park

The 67-foot long "Birding" mural is significant because Highlands County where Lake Placid is located is on the National Birding Trail. Volunteer birders gather in Highlands County every December for an annual Christmas bird count.

Next, we hopped into the car and drove a few blocks to a new location where we saw several more murals, the most notable of which is called "Tea at Southwinds." "Tea at Southwinds" was dedicated in 1993 and is the town's first mural. Southwinds was a winter resort belonging to Dr. Melvin Dewey, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System of library classification. This first mural is the only one that does not have hidden or missing items.

"Tea at Southwinds"

After seeing a total of about a dozen of the murals in the downtown area, we were all getting hungry. We decided to head a few miles north to Jimmy's Greek American Grill in Sebring. However, we had one more mural we wanted to stop and see on the way. It is located across U.S. Highway 27 on the side of the Save-A-Lot grocery store. It is called "Cracker Trail Cattle Drive." At 175 feet long and 30 feet high, it is the largest of the Lake Placid murals.

A section of the "Cracker Trail Cattle Drive" mural

The Cracker Trail ran all the way across central Florida and was used to drive cattle to the ports of Bradenton on the west coast of Florida and Fort Pierce on the east coast. The trail goes through nearby Zolfo Springs and passes by very close to the Co-op. The term "cracker" comes from the cracks of the whips of the cowmen as they drove the cattle.

The "Cracker Trail Cattle Drive" mural was completed in 1995 and was sponsored in part by the Highlands County Cattlemen's Association. In order to raise money for the mural, the association allowed various ranches to put their brands on some of the cattle in the mural. They charged one fee for the smaller cattle along the bottom and a higher fee for the larger cattle.

Detail showing brands on some of the cattle in the mural

The murals are very well done. Since we only saw about a quarter of them, and since Lake Placid is so close, we will definitely be planning a return trip to see more.

We then headed to Jimmy's where we each had gyro platters with fries and a small Greek salad for dinner. Jimmy's has absolutely the best gyros! After dinner, someone mentioned Dairy Queen, so we had to stop on our way back to the Co-op.

Back at the park model, we said our good-byes to Barb and Kent who were flying back to Chicago the next morning. It was a very nice day of fellowship, sightseeing and food.

Presidents Hall of Fame

Wauchula, FL - Events of Wednesday, September 5 to Monday, September 10, 2018

On Wednesday, September 5, we had a few errands to run over in Sebring. Instead of stopping at Dee's Place for lunch like we frequently do, we went to one of our new, favorite restaurants instead. We chose Dimitri's as an alternate because we went there with a group from the Co-op two weeks prior, and we really liked it.

Dimitri's

This time, Margery had a gyro ($6.49) and a side of onion rings ($1.95), and Paul had a smothered chicken sandwich (grilled chicken breast with sauteed onions and peppers and provolone cheese on a pretzel roll for $7.49). The gyro was delish, and even though Paul's pretzel roll got a little soggy from all the sauteed onions and peppers, the sandwich was still quite tasty.

Margery with her gyro

OakWood Grill is one of our favorite places to go for ribs. They usually have a special price of $13.99 on a full rack of ribs on Sundays through Wednesdays (regularly $16.99); but for the month of September, their special price was $11.99. Unfortunately, the closest OakWood Grill is in Clermont, which is about two hours away from the Co-op. We decided we wanted to go have ribs the following Monday (September 10) so we were looking for another errand or sightseeing opportunity in or near Clermont to help justify the trip.

Last time we went to OakWood for ribs, we went to Citrus Tower beforehand. Click here to read about that trip. This time on our way to OakWood we went to the Presidents Hall of Fame, which is located right next to Citrus Tower. The Presidents Hall of Fame is an old Florida tourist attraction that features wax figures of most of our presidents, replicas of many first ladies' inauguration gowns, a collection of White House china, election memorabilia, a collection of White House Christmas cards, and a replica of the White House in miniature.

When we first arrived, we stopped for a selfie with the scaled-down replica of Mount Rushmore located outside.

Selfie with Mount Rushmore replica

From there we headed to the museum.

Presidents Hall of Fame

There is also a down-sized version of the sculpture of Lincoln from the Lincoln Memorial outside the entrance.

Replica of the sculpture from the Lincoln Memorial

Tickets to the museum are $15, and the fee includes a pass that's good for a whole year. With the pass we figured we could use the Presidents Hall of Fame as an excuse to go to Clermont for ribs at least a couple of more times in the next year.

Inside the museum, we were given an introductory tour by the lady at the front counter, then we were free to explore on our own. There were wax figures of many of the earlier presidents we didn't immediately recognize, but the photo below shows a some of the more recent ones along with two of the first ladies.

Wax figures of some of the more recent presidents and two of the first ladies

In addition to the model of the White House we mentioned previously (more on that shortly), there is a smaller model depicting the White House under construction. Building of the White House started in 1792 and took 8 years to complete. 

Scale model showing the White House under construction

Detail of the construction model

The museum also has a replica of the Liberty Bell.

Replica of the Liberty Bell

The Resolute Desk was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880. The desk is made from timbers from the British Arctic exploration ship Resolute.

Many presidents have since used the desk in various locations in the White House, but it was Jackie Kennedy who first requested the desk be brought into the Oval Office in 1961 for President John F. Kennedy to use. The bottom of the desk was originally open in the center, but a door was added by Franklin D. Roosevelt so his leg braces couldn't be seen (FDR contracted polio in 1921 that left his legs paralyzed). There are several well-known photos showing John F. Kennedy's son, John John, peering out through the door from under the desk, and that's the way the replica of the Resolute Desk at the museum is depicted. 

Replica of the Resolute Desk from the Oval Office

The main feature of the Presidents Hall of Fame is the 60-foot long model of the White House. Back in 1956 John Zweifel, who was 20 at the time, took a tour of the White House. He was very interested in what he saw, but was disappointed that the tour only included 5 rooms. He wanted to see the other 127.

Zweifel had begun carving and whittling at the age of 4. When he was a teenager, he built a 14,000-piece replica of the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus. Since he was an accomplished miniaturist he eventually decided he wanted to build a scale model of the White House, but that meant he would need to see the other rooms. After 6 years of letter writing, Jackie Kennedy finally agreed to give him partial access so Zweifel was able to start his model in 1962. However, after JFK's assassination in 1963, Zweifel's access to the White House dried up.

Following the resignation of Nixon in 1974, Americans were very distrustful of the White House so Gerald Ford wanted to open it up to everyone. Although the Secret Service didn't like it, Ford granted Zweifel full access. The model was ready to go on tour across the country in time for America's Bicentennial in 1976. Zweifel says the model will never be finished because he changes it as soon as he can get the necessary information whenever a new president takes office.

North portico of the scale model of the White House complete with presidential limo

The side of the model representing the south side of the White House is open so visitors can see the incredible detail inside.

Rooms open to view on the back side of the model

Detail showing the presidential bedroom in the private quarters

Detail showing the State Dining Room

Each new president redecorates the Oval Office according to his own taste and needs. There are numerous separate models depicting the Oval Office as it was decorated under different presidents.

Model of Reagan's Oval Office

Speaking of redecorating, the private quarters also get redone. On inauguration day, the staff gets only 6 hours to move the old president and his family out, to redecorate the Oval Office and the living quarters, and to move the new president in. The Discovery Channel made a documentary on that subject using some of the miniatures at the museum. The model in the next photo showing the Oval Office in transition was used in the filming of the documentary.

Model of the Oval Office in transition between presidents

The model of the White House spent much of its early life touring the country. Although it still goes on tour occasionally (we first saw it in 2010 at the Reagan Presidential Library in California), its home is the Presidents Hall of Fame. We're not sure when the Hall of Fame first opened, but it was acquired by the Zweifels from its previous owners around 1990. The museum itself needs a little TLC, and the Zwiefels are in the process of updating it. All in all, the Presidential Hall of Fame was pretty interesting, especially the scale models.

After the museum, we went a few doors north to OakWood Grill. The ribs were excellent as usual. Margery had mac and cheese and slaw for her sides, and Paul had his usual lima beans and slaw.

Paul with his rack of ribs

With our bellies full, we headed back to the Co-op for an evening of relaxation. We had special plans starting at the end of the week. We'll tell you about them in our next post.

Punta Gorda

Wauchula, FL - Events of Friday, August 3, 2018

After we finished up looking around the little museum and the visitor center following our eco tour of Babcock Ranch Preserve, we hopped in the car and headed to Punta Gorda. Punta Gorda, whose name means "fat point" in English, is so named because it is located on a short, wide peninsula of land that juts out into Charlotte Harbor at the mouth of the Peace River. Charlotte Harbor is a bay located between Sarasota and Ft. Myers on the Gulf coast of Florida.

The first white settlers began arriving in the area that is now Punta Gorda around the mid-1870s. The plan for the town was filed in 1885. The town was originally called Trabue after Isaac Trabue, who was responsible for the platting of the lots, but when the town was incorporated in 1887, the name was changed to Punta Gorda.

It was a little early for lupper so we drove around to check out the town first. While Punta Gorda is a waterfront town, it's located on Charlotte Harbor and not directly on the Gulf. Therefore, it's not a crowded, bustling beach town, and it was pretty easy to get around.

There are a several parks with features like tennis courts, basket ball courts, playgrounds, picnic shelters, and benches located along the Peace River, and all the parks are connected by a harbor walk. Because it happened to be close to where we were when we made the decision to check out one of the parks, we ended up at Gilchrist Park.

One of the first things we noticed when we parked was the Victorian-style architecture with Bahamian and Cuban influences that reminded us of Key West.

Victorian-style architecture with Caribbean influences

From the park, there were nice views out into the wide expanse of the Peace River.

View of the Peace River from the gazebo at Gilchrist Park

There was also a statue of Ponce de Leon at the park.

Ponce de Leon

Ponce de Leon was a Spanish explorer who sailed with Christopher Colombus on his second voyage to the New World in 1493. That expedition landed in Hispaniola (present day Haiti and Dominican Republic). In 1513, Ponce de Leon led his own expedition that landed in the area of what is now St. Augustine making him the first European to set foot in Florida. He claimed the land for Spain naming it La Florida (the land of flowers).

Ponce de Leon then sailed around La Florida and landed in present day Charlotte Harbor along the Gulf coast in May, 1513. The expedition spent three weeks there and left after several clashes with unfriendly Calusa Indians.

Ponce de Leon returned to Charlotte Harbor in 1521 with 200 men, farm animals that became ancestors of the Cracker cattle and feral pigs we saw on our eco tour of Babcock Ranch Preserve, and farming implements. His intention was to establish a colony and bring Christianity to the Indians. The Indians resisted vigorously. After several months, the colonists retreated to their ships during a skirmish, and Ponce de Leon was wounded by an arrow during the retreat. The colonists then sailed to Cuba where Ponce de Leon died of his wound.

From the park, we drove several blocks to Fishermen's Village. Fishermen's Village is a waterfront tourist area containing shops, restaurants, and a resort complex. Opened in 1980, Fishermen's Village is built on an old dock that had fallen into disrepair.

Some of the shops of Fishermen's Village

We were interested in two of several restaurants located in Fishermen's Village so we checked them out because it was mid-afternoon and we were getting hungry. One of the restaurants featured New England seafood. There's nothing wrong with that, but we were looking for local seafood. The other restaurant also specialized in seafood. They had grouper on the menu, which sounded good to both of us, but it was available at lunch time only as a sandwich. Therefore, we decided to hop in the car and drive a few blocks east to check out Laishley Crab House because the menu we found online indicated they had a fried grouper platter, which we preferred because it had no bread and therefore fewer carbs.

Laishley Crab House was a little hard to find because the entrance is kind of hidden under the front overhang of a building that was dominated by the sign for a realtor, which is located in the same building. Once we found the entrance, we parked and headed for the restaurant.

Entrance to Laishley Crab House

The restaurant is located on the second floor. On our way upstairs, we stopped to admire the attractive, carved sign inside the entrance.

Carved sign for Laishley Crab House

We chose outdoor seating on the balcony overlooking a marina.

View of the marina from the outdoor seating on the balcony

We both ordered fried grouper platters which come with slaw and fries for $13. Paul opted for sweet potato fries ($.50 extra), while Margery stuck with the regular fries.

Paul with his fried grouper and sweet potato fries

The grouper was excellent. It was tempura-battered, which made it extra crispy. The sides were good, too.

After lupper, we headed back to the Co-op where we relaxed for the evening. It was a nice day trip with our eco tour of Babcock Ranch Preserve and our lupper at Laishley Crab House. It was an excellent way to celebrate our anniversary.

Babcock Ranch

Wauchula, FL - Events of Friday, August 3, 2018

We spent most of the first week back at the Co-op after our 2½-week trip to Pittsburgh and to Ohio's Amish Country catching up with things like grocery shopping, grass mowing, and other chores. We took time out on Friday, however, because it was a special day. It was our 50th wedding anniversary.

We decided to celebrate our anniversary by taking a day trip to visit Babcock Ranch Preserve in Punta Gorda, Florida, which is a little over an hour from the Co-op. Babcock Ranch, also known as the Crescent B Ranch, was a tract of over 91,000 acres that was purchased in 1914 by Edward V. Babcock.

Edward Babcock, who was a lumber baron, used the land in Florida for cutting timber and for agriculture. He also has a Pittsburgh connection because he founded Babcock Lumber Company in our old hometown of Pittsburgh in the late 1880s. He was also Mayor of Pittsburgh from 1918 to 1922.

Edward Babcock spent little time in Florida. By the 1930s, his son Fred, who loved Florida, was managing the property on site. When Fred died in 1997, the Babcock family attempted to sell the land to the state. Florida wanted the land in order to help establish a conservation corridor from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf Coast. This area is important environmentally because it supplies water to the western part of the Everglades.

In order to lessen tax liabilities, the family wanted to sell the land to the state by means of a stock transfer, but the state's constitution prohibited it from purchasing stock from a private company. When negotiations between the family and the state ended in 2005, the family began to seek private buyers. Fortunately, they found a real estate developer who purchased the land (presumably by means of the stock transfer) then turned around and sold 74,000 of the 91,000-acre tract (80%) to the state creating Babcock Ranch Preserve. The development company is using the land they retained to build a planned community called Babcock Ranch.

From what we can tell, the community of Babcock Ranch will be much like The Villages except it will apparently have less emphasis on golf and more emphasis on high tech and energy efficiency. They will supply some of their own electricity with their own solar power plant. Like The Villages, Babcock Ranch will be made up of a number of smaller neighborhoods each with housing at different price levels. Also like The Villages, there will be shopping, office space, light industry, a hospital, public areas, schools, and entertainment venues.

Anyway, enough about the community of Babcock Ranch and about the history of the ranch itself. We were interested in taking an eco tour of Babcock Ranch Preserve. The preserve is administered by the Florida Forest Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, but the tours are conducted by a private company in cooperation with the state. The address for the tours is 8000 State Route 31, Punta Gorda, which is located about 15 miles east of the city as the crow flies. Tours depart every half hour from 9:30 am until 2:00 pm at a cost of $23 for adults and $22 for seniors.

Putting the above address into your GPS will get you to the approximate location of the turnoff from SR 31, but the actual starting point of the tours is down a narrow road a little over 2 miles to the east of that turnoff. Paul was just beginning to question if we missed the place or if we were even on the right road when we saw a sign that said "almost there." After about another quarter mile, we finally arrived. We parked and headed to the visitor center to check in.

Visitor center for eco tour

The eco tours are given aboard so-called "swamp buggies," which are actually converted school buses.

Eco tour "swamp buggy"

We noticed when we first arrived there weren't many cars in the parking lot, and most of them were at the end where there was a sign for the start of a hiking trail. It turned out we were the only ones there for the 10:30 tour. It was great having a private tour because we could ask all the questions we wanted, and we could move from one side of the bus to the other to get a better view.

Shortly after the tour started, we came to our first of many alligators. The 'gator wasn't very big (maybe about 3'). The 'gator is a little hard to make out, but its scaly back is in the center of the picture and its head extends off to the left and is partially obscured by plants.

 
The first of many 'gators

The preserve is operated as a unique public-private partnership that uses income from eco-tourism and its ongoing logging, farming, and ranching operations to sustain itself. The preserve is made up of diverse habitats including scrub flats, pine forests, marshes, cypress swamps, prairies, and hardwood hammocks (a hammock is a tract of land that rises above the surrounding wetlands).

Grazing land

A few slash pines with lots of undergrowth

With all the marshes and ponds, we saw surprisingly few wading birds, namely a few snowy egrets. We also saw one anhinga perched atop a dead tree.

Anhinga

Although the preserve is home to a wide variety of wildlife, we didn't see that much of it. They did tell us there is usually much more wildlife in winter when water levels are lower. The tour guides are able to attract some wildlife because they carry buckets of corn to use as handouts. The first of the beggars were white tail deer.

White tail deer

They saw us coming and meandered in our direction as the tour guide dumped some corn out onto the ground, but they kept their distance until the bus had started to move on.

Less wary were the feral pigs. They charged right up to the bus and waited for the corn.

Feral pigs

The cattle were even more demanding. Several of them put their noses all the way into the bus through the open door and one even started climbing up the steps.

One of the many cattle looking for a handout

The cattle are "cracker" cattle whose lineage goes back to the time of the arrival of Ponce de Leon in the early 1500s. These cattle were brought in by the Spanish and adapted well to the heat of Florida. "Cracker" is the name given to Florida cowboys, who were more properly called cow hunters, because of the cracks of their whips as they drove the cattle.

Back in the day, the small town of Rouxville (population 200) was a logging town that supported Babcock Ranch. The commissary, which still stands, had a company store and a doctor who also served as a barber... or was it the other way around?

Rouxville commissary

Next to the commissary was a pond with a resident 3-foot alligator.

Alligator in the commissary pond

After passing the commissary, the road crosses a fast-moving creek. They always say don't drive through water where you can't see the bottom, but the driver was obviously familiar with the route and charged right in.

View out the front window as the bus was about to ford a fast-moving stream

When the bus was mid-stream, we could see the remnants of an old railroad trestle out the right side. The railroad ran right through the ranch and was important for getting logs to market.

View out the right side of the bus of the stream and the remnants of old railroad trestle 

Most of the second half of the tour was through a cypress swamp... and we do mean through the swamp. The bus was in the water up to its axles most of the way.

Cypress trees are conifers that grow in or near water. They have buttress roots at the base to help support the trees in the wet soil, and the roots have projections called knees that stick up out of the water so the roots can get air.

Cypress swamp

The red-brown color of the water is due to tannin. The tannin comes from leaves and organic matter that fall into the water and break down.

Tannin-stained water in the swamp

Near the end of the tour, the driver stopped the bus on Alligator Bridge where we watched about half a dozen alligators in the water below.

One of the alligators we saw from Alligator Bridge

The driver got out and came back with a baby 'gator. At first we thought she picked it out of the water, but she admitted it came from a holding tank mounted on the back of the bus. When it gets a little bigger, they will release it.

Baby 'gator up close and personal

From Alligator Bridge it was a short drive back to the visitor center where there is a small museum with early artifacts from the ranch. Adjacent to the visitor center is the Gator Shack Restaurant that serves ribs, east Carolina-style pulled pork, various kinds of seafood, and alligator (tastes like chicken).

Back at the visitor center there was also there was a taxidermy display of Lulu the three-horned cow. She was born on Babcock Ranch in 1967. She had 18 calves, all of which were two-horned.

Lulu the three-horned cow

The tours are led by the driver and a spotter who helps look for and points out wildlife. Both were excellent and very knowledgeable. We thoroughly enjoyed our eco tour of Babcock Ranch.

We do have one caution regarding the tour, however. The roads are very rough so you may not want to take the tour if you have severe back or neck problems.

After looking around the visitor center a while, we hopped in the car and headed to our next stop. We'll tell you about it in our next post.